


Dance with the Dead

by Starren_Moonstone



Series: Collections from The Journalist - Whumptober Edition [16]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Hallucinations, Rescue Mission, Whumptober 2020, a terrible horrible no good very bad day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:07:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27102439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starren_Moonstone/pseuds/Starren_Moonstone
Summary: Kitty is trapped in a music box; Taelyn goes in to save her from her from her untimely demise.
Series: Collections from The Journalist - Whumptober Edition [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947499
Kudos: 1





	Dance with the Dead

**Author's Note:**

> Whumptober Day 16: "A Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day" - hallucinations

February 3rd, 2018

Just as Diane had said before, the music box that Kitty used to escape from is open, face down in the storage unit filled with all the other music boxes the D’aeth family has kept hidden over the centuries. They pick up the music box in question. There is no figurine at the center, but the inside of the box is decorated to look like a large ballroom decorated for a wedding. Taelyn looks over at Diane, who stands at the entrance to the storage unit. 

“Make sure no one else comes here,” Taelyn says, “And no opening any of the boxes. I have no idea what any of them do, but none of it is good.”

“…you really think you can get Kitty?” Diane asks, incredulously, but there is high concern in her eyes. 

Taelyn nods, if only to hide the hesitation they themself have in this venture. They place the box on one of the empty crates in the room and looks more carefully in the box. They begin to focus on what this particular place would be like to walk through. The sounds, the particular sights, the smells. All of it. 

The one aligned with the Beholding eventually finds themself within the scene, off to the side, dressed in a plain black tuxedo. No tie or bow tie, and the top of the white shirt is unbuttoned. They wear a western underground orchid, fake, but made to look very real. An odd choice in flower, however, this is a dream place. Nothing here will make sense in the rational sense. 

Many people are gathered, and pleasant music plays. Some dance, though most stand around an talk. At the other side of the room is the wedding party’s table. Wyatt sits there with who Taelyn assumes to be his bride in this dream, a girl who he dated back in high school who was never the right fit for him. Taelyn shakes their head. Even in the dream, Wyatt doesn’t look completely comfortable with this choice. 

“Taelyn, honey!” a voice that Taelyn thought they would never hear again catches them, and they turn just in time for their mother, dressed in a beautiful maroon dress. “You really should have worn something a little brighter.”

“Most of the men are wearing black tuxedos,” Taelyn points out, still looking around for Kitty. It seems like an odd choice that this wedding isn’t for her. 

Taelyn’s mom tuts a little. “That doesn’t mean you have to follow along with such silly things.”

Taelyn sighs, and walks further into the party. They need to keep focused on the reason they are here, or else they know they would easily fall away in this place. They notice that many of the people gathered are those who have moved on from life. Taelyn’s parents, for one. Several people of the D’aeth family line that Taelyn remembered hearing who have died. Kitty’s mother… and even those who are present who are still alive, many of them are only an image that can never be. Edmond being a minister. Diane being a lawyer. Dreams that are now dead and gone, never to be returned to.

Taelyn finds Kitty to the side of this party, standing alone, wearing a black frayed robe, with the hood covering her face. A grim reaper, staring at her domain full of the ghosts in her life. Her eyes are the only part of the face that Taelyn can clearly see, and they glow bright yellow. Taking a deep breath, Taelyn walks in front of their cousin, and takes a ceremonial bow, their right hand extended towards Kitty. “May I have this dance?” Taelyn asks.

Kitty does not move for a moment, and Taelyn wonders what she sees. Does she see a person in front of her, or another specter, haunting her in this place? Or, worse, a reaper for her soul? Kitty eventually does take Taelyn’s hand, and they walk into the dance floor. A slow waltz starts to play, and Taelyn takes the lead.

“You have been gone a long time, Kitty,” Taelyn says quietly, once the two of them are in dancing sync with one another, “Why here of all places?”

“Why not?” Kitty asks, a wistfulness in her voice, “It’s better to be here, where nothing is painful and everyone is alive.”

“It’s not real though, and I think you know that.”

“It’s better than out there.”

“Is it though?” Taelyn asks, trying to find Kitty behind the eyes full of The End.”Here, you are surrounded by people who you know are not right. That are either dead or no longer this image of themself. This is an occurrence that cannot be.”

“The truth is worse,” Kitty insists, and Taelyn can feel something crawling up their legs and arms, reaching towards their heart, “Out there is worse. Things are only going to get worse. It is better to stay here, even if it can never be.”

“Things can get better.”

“Things can never go back to the way they once were. My cousin is dead. My aunts and uncles are dead. My own mother is dead. And everyone around me is moving onward, leaving me to pick up the pieces. Leave me to rest among the dead. This is where I belong.”

Taelyn can feel The End starting to grip at their heart. “Kitty, listen to me.” They stop the waltz and put their hands on Kitty’s shoulders. “I get it, the feeling of believing there is no way for things to get better and it is better to just let things be, to let things move on without you. But that’s the thing: all life carries on. Bad things will happen, they will happen a lot, but so do good things. You have to believe that.”

“Why should I?”

“Because your brother has been worried sick. Your friends have been worried. Even your cousins. We’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

“I don’t see them.”

“I was the only one to come here because I could without getting caught up in this illusion.” The roots sink deeper in Taelyn’s skin. “There is no way for life to get better without giving it the chance to.”

“All life ends though…”

“So experience the path towards it!” Taelyn grips harder on Kitty’s shoulders. “Please!”

One by one, the people in this all disappear along with the music and the wedding decorations, until it is all empty besides Kitty and Taelyn. The eyes coming from the hood look bitter and worn. “Why are you still here?”

“I’m not an illusion,” Taelyn says, “Have these ghosts been trying to talk to you?”

“Yes… especially Annie…” Kitty sobs once. The roots of The End slink away and Taelyn can breath easy again. “She was always a believer of life.”

Taelyn takes off Kitty’s hood and holds her face gently in their hands. “ _They_ still are. The End means nothing without life to compare it to. Come, let us leave this place, and leave these ghosts to rest.”

The golden color of Kitty’s eyes finally starts to fade away, and tears start coming down Kitty’s cheeks. She merely nods, and holds Taelyn’s hands. Time to go.

**Author's Note:**

> I like playing around with the concept of ghosts of ourselves. Maybe in a rewrite, I'll extend this scene out a little more because it is an interesting concept. 
> 
> If you like what you read and want to learn more and keep up with this content, I have a tumblr set up. beholdingwriter.tumblr.com I'll be posting up the stories on there, as well as answering questions about the characters involved in this collection of stories.


End file.
